Variety (May 1932)

28 VAUDE HOUSE REVIEWS Tuesday, May 17, 1932 \ JACK DENNY ORCH (18) Band and Specialties . . 28 ins.; Full (Special) Palace, N. Y. . Kiiown pn the ah-, for Its soft mu- bIc, and well liked ^for it by ether fans, the Denny oi'chestri is stick- ing to Its euns for this Palace stage date. Result is a half hour of pleasr ant. music Jn. turn padded out to vaudeville proportions by song and dance specialties. ; , Denny is a reincarnation pi a vet- eran half of numerous" vaudevillf two-acts. In the pasft he was Denny and Barry. Denny and Morgan, F61- som and Denny, and even the Jack Denny who shared billing with Her- tnine Shone in a full-stage sketch. That past experience Is all Denny's favor, for it gives him an edge over . the aviftrage ether tyro breaking into vaudeville/ while presehtrday audi- ences are not likely to recognize him as a one-time 60% of two-acts. Extraordinary arrangements. that bring several dead pop tunes back to life are no little part:of the band's excellence. The Palace audience en- joyed all the music and the special- ties that went with it. •. \ Lorraine Manners, red-headed waltz soloist in .one number; the Bton Boiy's, mike quartet, and aii unbilled tenor who belongs to the band but doesn't play an iostrunient, com- prise the support^ • The Etons are strong in their own spot, with .the band's tenor alwayfi handy for vocal toppers. His frequent entrances and. (Etxits to and from a centierstage mike are the act's only staging flaw. Denny doubles, at the stick and piano bench. A peculiar conduct^ : Ing. stance has him giving the musi- cians the profile most of ° the time, the leader, hardly ever facing his men and looking at the audience only" when announcing. The an- nouncements are clear and to the point. Bige. MERBIE KAY BAND With Doris Robbins Orchestra and Vocal 30 Mins.; Full Oriental, Chicago . First stage attempt for the Herbie Kay combination. It has been identified around Chicago as a snappy radio and dancehall b&nd. And there lies the difference. Play- ing dance rhythm ph a floor and crooning melodies to an unseen audience Is not the same. Kay and his bOyis .were up against It here from the start. Booking 'was premature in the first place. B&K. decided on it at the last min- ute and the band cbudn't brush up oh routines that were \|;Qfaml)iar anyway. On top of which the first show was all mussed up .by faulty wire.. Kay has a nice personality which has to be more fiilly devel- oped fqr stage purposes. That the boys w^e In strange territory was evident from the nervous atraln displayed by . all. But It will take more than .just work and experience to bring this outfit to the fore for vaude or pic- ture houses. Band tried to get off to a fast start by going into a col lege medley, but had nothing to fol low , except some ordinary vocaliz- ing 'by the lads from the stands Biggest asset to the orchestra is the presence of Doris Robbins, whose blues warbling has been getting at tentlon over the air. Miss Robbins has' a distinctive style of singing and appearance to back it. up. She was handicapped the first show through misplacement of the mike system, but covered up nicely. Booking is for one week only so far. . Span. PAUL BOWERS REVUE (4) Dances, Songs 14 Mfns.; Four Grand O, H« N. Y. Small diance flash with a strong finish. Opening moments are weak and need revision. Shapes as fair opener until more strongly knit. Bowers and two girls support the dance end with tap and eccentric routines, working as a group and individually^ : A comedy Bowery number Is punchlcss and should go out, Finish, with all three hoofing, closes nicely. Two men. isupport. One, quite an old chap, is at a harpsichord and ' giveix a "few feature moments. Other chap uses a guitar and. has a .vocal solo. . CHERRY and JUNE PREISSER Dancing and Acrobatics 14 Mins.; One and Full Palace, N. Y. As soon as theise two kids stop trying to knock 'em dead at any cost to their own physical welfare, there Is no telling how far they will go. Piarticularly the younger of the two sisters, a 16-year-old pint-sized blonde. They were. a man's-Sized hit before the act was half over, despite which they continued to give >m everything they had. Whe'h: It was over, the Prelssers were a cpuple of tired kids and it was only the first of five shews Satr urday at the. Palace.; Four minutes off their present 14-minute running time will save their health without harming the act. For they'll stop any given show in two minutes, let alone 10. The youngster of the team Is chlefiy a dancing acrobat, but she's almost as strong at comedy. An un- usual combination with possibly not a single precedent for her in. the show business; She's also no slouch at legit dancing, nor Is her sister. They sing, hoof, mugg and tum- ble, working at top speed all the way. That pace need not be sacri- ficed by a cut In the running time. If anything. It may tend .to quicken the gait, if that's possible with these two girls. Bige. AMERICAN BUDS (8) Dances, Songs - 16 Minis.; Two and Full (Special) Grand O. H., N. Y. Fast girl flash good for either end of the bill, seven of the femmes dance and acrobat while ono holds up the vocal'end.. Latter has a fair voice and good delivery. Girls arc comely and dance nicely Work topcther a<3 a unit and later branch "Off into a challenge dance. Fast acrobatic number rounds, out the act to a solid finish. Girls do a variety of stuiits, including a hu- man pyramid, and intersperse fast ground work. ETHELIND TERRY (1) Songs 9. Mins,; Two Palace, N..Y. Miss . Terry, from the musical comedy, sticks to pops for the first four, numbers In her initial vaude- ville appearance. She handles them smartly and at the Palace was over nicely on comlihese. iand ability. Not too heavy oh the coin end and attuned - to pop vaudeville tiistes. Miss Terry is all right for that field. She carries a piano accompanist, man. •. . • Finishes with the. theme from her best-known musical role, 'Iflio Rita.' Nervousness was obvious at the first show, but that won't last. Bige. PALACE An encouraging start for the Pal- ace grind policy Saturday afternoon blotted out any tears that might have been shed ove^ the passing of the last of the big-timers. At the iirst; show's getaway, around noon- time, there were but three rows of customers. Before It ended, the or- chestra.seats were packed and folks were standing three deep in the rear. Take your own guess if they were In because they Jiked the niew;- idea or if the show bunch was curious to see how it worked. It may have been an occaslpn for sentiment, but hone was apparent Saturday afternoon. Thosle cjiaiii- pjons of the good old two-a-ddy v^ho reached for their hankies when the foiir-a-day news broke were either at the ball gaine or marching in the Beer Parade. The boys in the back looked almost jovial, while the new box office on the. street got a good opening day's >vprkout. . Perhaps Phil Baker summed it up on the stage when he said,- 'Four shows every day and five on Satur- day, What do I care as long as I get paid for It?' Baker is the head- liner at $6,000, so he wasn't kidding about being paid. Bakei's last Pal- ace salary under the two-a-^day was $1,000 ' less. Before Martin Beck okayed the policy ..change he isald the necessity p£ paying faincy salaries for names, to keep the Palace going was the chief factor In licking the theatre.' So the house changed pol- icy to get away firom the high sal- aries, and Its first' bill headlines Bsiker at the. highest salary he's ever received. Which proves what? it proves, If. anything, that the Palace will continue to pay for names if it wishes to play 'em. It can sell its shows for half as much and' cover that up with twice as many performances, but it's bound to find that they'll want nOmes for $1 just, as ihey did for $2. The other Broadway theatres are giving them names for 8Bc—with pictures.. It's pictures the Palace lacks, which more than anything else makes ndmes Imperative. They, don't patronize the Palace just because it's .the P^ilace. It cost the house |1<006 In the red to find that out la^t week, its finale In th^ big-time class. That proposed .18,000 weekly stage VON GRONA'S DANCERS (11) 13 Mins.; Full (Spe6ia|) Palace, N. Y. Second-:rate dancing of a type that c /en at its best is entirely un- sulted. to vaudeville.. These 11 girls, 10 in line, are exponents of the modernistic school that teaches dancing with the body rather than tho feet. A plot supposedly in back of each dance, but a secret to the audience. Staging and costuniing In the same modernistic manner, though not pretentious. Not a trick in all the dances stands out, with every- thing dominated by; the desire to be modem and ruined by failure to clarify the stager's intehtiohs. In their second number, led by a girl o' t of line,, the girls seem always on the verge of breaking out into a cooch, but never get that far. It was surprising how negatively 10 people on a stage at once could reg- ister.- ■The soloist, in two specialties, fol- lows the same trend, and although she works hard it's never quite clear what it's all about. Act is better suited to the recital jstage. Bige. WILLIAMS and CRYOR Singing, Talk 16 Mins.; One Academy, N. Y. ' Colored male, team in a routine of songs and talk. Clicks with enough certainty to insure results In the better class neighborhoods. A piano is carried, which One of the twain fingers adeptly. No. 2 down here team opened with a hot double, one playing, the uke. . From tli^ere on . it's se-veral pops by one of the team as his partner ofllciates at the piano, oc- casionally interrupting for laughs. Pianist does a Britisher effectively, working up to a fine comedy point built around the old fore (four) fa- thers gag. An old number foir the close, 'Blue Heaven,' with a short dance encore in one to top. Did nicely here. Char. WALTER CLINTON and •INVADERS (11) Band, Songs, Dancing 20 Mins.; Full Loew's Orpheum, N; Y. Walter Clinton, formerly oir Clin- ton and Rooney, with a 10-man. band and very littlie entertainment. Fault lies mostly in a lack of pacei Opens weakly on all the lads vo- calizing none too heftily and from that into a couple of pop numbers. Clinton Is neatly dressed and doesn't attempt too much calls-, thenic stick work, but substltuteB mugging and attempted 'comedy. Three of the boys out for a vocal number ahd another dances a bit. Clinton is aUU doing his Imitation of. Pat Rooney'3 'Rosey O'Grady.' About five minutes given to a number in which all members play a different tune, tlie whole ble^iding into what . Clinton announces as 'The Hash Song.' Not bad, but as handled it's practically a three min- ute gap In the middle of the turn. Clinton is unnecessarily +elllng the audience that he's a 'brother-in-law of Pat Rooney and a cousin, of Wal- ter Donaldson.' Later, he tells the audience that his wife is oiit front. So what? It's a sign of weakness If anything. Kauf. RALPH ROGERS CO. (2) Comedy 21 Mins.; One and Three Grand O. H, N. Y. Witli some cutting this act should have ho trouble. At this indie house Rogers drew a heavy response de spite that the act is noticeably Overlong. Another act billed as Ralph Rogers, a young mixed cou pie, . Is also playing around but should not be confused with . this .turn. . Rogers Is assisted by a hefty blonde and another man also doing comedy. Rogers' best bets.are com edy bits with a trick piano, violin and. 'cellp.. AlsP: his closing item with a flute, workiiig with the other chap, whp supplies Eimultaneous guitar Instrumentation. Girl foils a bit and manages to squeeze in a little warbling. A Uttie fixing and oke all around. GALE and CARSON (3) Dancing, Songs, Comedy 13 Mins.; One Orpheum, N. Y. Male duo. were last seen around, with three girls in a so-called re- vue. Now just. One girl remains, unbilled. It's a strong act, but has its weak spots. Deuced here, and the customers ate it up, but with some rearrangement it could get better" spotting and more atten- tion. Boys are dancers and good ones, but they Insist on doing comedy. Thiis runs to gags which are not there. Girl is brougjit op, to sing, one pop, which also figures as a mistake. Pretty and has' a nice onouijh voice, but the interlude doesn't fit. Kauf. BOB CARNEY (3) Songs and Talk 15^ Mins. in One Hippodrome, N. Y. Not in files, but apparently not a newcomer. Starts oft with a brief monojog, interrupted by a girl, goes Into a eccentric dance and then bits with, the girl (Mai-lon Kingston), and Harry Pollard, 'nance' stooge, Latter closes the act in the en- core with a well delivered pop soh.«Ti dispjaylhg an agreeable voice. Miss Kingston does little except ease the ieye, but she can do that. Cgirney's patter only fair, but the dance gets over, Nance coitiedy barely passes. Good for two or three spot, but on sixth here dnd not so strong. budget for these Palace grind bills now'appea,ra to have beien just one of those things. They started out with the Intention of speiiijtlng no more and wind up with a $13,600 vaudeville bill this week. This wais the average cost of the two-a-day shows. ' As a big-tlmer the: Palace needed two or three names a week for Its $13,500. A.<; a grind Its opening bill contains only one real personality, yet the salary list is just as high. The trick la to book a good show for this hbuse at $8,000. ' There is considerable entertain- ment in. the. 10 < acts currently pn display/ and no miracle at that money. ' After ja isan)ple of mlsjudg- ment in the opening, slot things move along at a pretty nice, gait; with a genuine sock now and then to keep things interesting. New faces were the reason for much of the value, with a hew lace at the Palace looklhg a lot newer than It could anywhere elsei A pair of girl acrubatic dancers in. seventh position on a 10-act bill sounds silly on p'aper. But the girls. a,Tfi here in precisely that spot, and how! They're Cherry Blossom and ■ June Preisser (Ne'w Acts), of whom much will be iieard.' Especially the , 16- year-old. - The Preisser kids are the bill's most telling pimch. /Ahot^jer stun- ner, equally unimportant oh. the billing, but, like the sisters, beating $5,000 Phil and the other standards In an applause way by a Japanese mile, is Gloria Gilbert, a human top who outspins any modern toe dancer.' She replaced Mitzi May- fair In the Gtis Edwards 'New Star& on Parade' specialty act, and they never missed Mitzi. After the opener, .Von Grona^s Dancers (New Acts), tilings stay standard for quite a while. King Bros, and Cully, No. 2, are new faces In a hoofing and knockabout three-act that has numerous coun- terparts. W'U Oakland and his fenime'piano trio are third. All de- liver through mikes, with the Palace stage this week wired like a broken jaw. Oakland nabs 'em when he cares to by reaching plenty high for the last notes, but In between there Is much reliance on the auditors' patience. Despite the girls and the mountings the act Is practically all Oakland and Oakland's singing, a not too good arrangement for 19 minutes. The cafe and radio enter- tainer works at a de^k. In his final medley of four or five songs he ap- peared to read the lyrics from desk notes, which didn't help the tunes or the act. . . , Joe Laurie, Jr., and his five sing- ing and dancing 'cousins,' mono- loged them .^Ihto sijpbmlssion in the unsuitable fourth spot. The cigar- smoking kid Is still quoting from his own idte column, but the 'cousins' were a big help. Eddie Garr, first of the 'new faces,' did well once under way. At the start. it looked like another mpnolog was on the way, ■with no chance to follow Laurie's, but Garr switches quickly to imitations. His youthfulness, cpupled 'with a neat appearance and nice manner, prob- ably are more important than the takeoffs. Garr sticks fo well- knowns, which Is the best Idea for him, with his Jimmy Durante the dai-b. After his own single he dou- bles into the Edwards turn In the part filled by Billy Taylor on the act's last Palace date. Turning into a singing, dancing, talking Juve in the big act Garr manages to show up just as well, proving him- self an all around boy. In dou- bling up he's working practically throughout tho 34 minutes Of the combined turns' running time. The Preisser kids are next, with two of the three remaining entries also under New Acts. They are Ethelind Terry, from niusical legit, eighth in the running, and the Jack Denny orchestra, a radio band, closing. Both filled their spots sat- isfactorily. In between and next to closing. Baker and that Moldbwney guy in the box are almost on a vacation when their 18 minutes this -week is compared to the customary half hour or thereabouts for the same act at the Palace. ' A heavy recep- tion left no dpubts as to whom the customers wanted to see. Tlie box an-l stage crossfire grabbed normal returns. Baker, brought Miss Terry back for the usual romance hoUe, with Miss Terry bearing up very well under apparent nervousness. It accomplished nothing more than to fill out a few minutes that might have been used to better ad- vantage. No comedian who has ever played in tf Palace afterpiece has since been able to resist the .temptation to bring on the bill's leading lady for a finish. Some day sonle ieadinir lady in need of a fin- ish her.self is going to dragi on the comedian. ' Before Beck sailed for Europe he ordered all speeches out at the Pal- ace. While there he will learn tliat of these 10 acts only four made speeches .Saturday. Another Bakerism th.at holds more truth than ,pocli;y arrived when the accordionist mentioned Hollywood. 'There aren't rrahy people left, out there. Most of. them are playing the Capitol this Week,' he said. Bige. STATE, N. Y. The state takes a toe hold th!« week. With the street starting off oh a different slant for its stages it was probably. Inevitable that LoeVa would up to the rest of 'em, mostly the Palace, by going blg-tlme tfn iu vaude. House this week digs deeper Into the coffers to. buy Its costliest slate of acts, spending $6,500 for the six turhis on the show. This ia arpund $1;600 abpve what it. ordU narlly budgets for its stage. In the current rostrum parade art Ruch acts as Smith and Dale, George Sidney, Miss Patricola, and Krainer and Boyle. The ^remaining brace list as the Andressens, and Slier and Wills. All of these have played the Palace, Seller and Wilis only three ■weeks ago. . Direct oh top of Its. Capitol run of two weeks, without the usual week's: protection to the deluxer, 'Letty Lynton' (M-G) is on the scrieen.: Be- tween that flicker and the vaude ' ishow, the house is probably w^ protected against any possible in» roads ;On Its business. Whether or not the Palace cur- rently might wean away some of the. re|pular State trade, which also pays up to a $1 top for loges, the combo operation had to figure on competi- tion from its own Capitol and the Paramount, each with a heavy plat- form lure; Those, houses are both giving mqit all of their ads to the ■ stage shows. Palace also comes up front under water to splash around In its new policy. The State's vaude bill doesn't play as fast as. desired,, but it delivers nicely on entertainment. At least five pl^ the six acts could be doing next tp shut here any other time, excepting the Andressens, strictly an opener or closer but a good one of Its kind and ably presented. Geprge Sidney was spotted a notch from the end with his Intimate film-star type of attraction. Tho 'Cohen' of the 'Cohens and Kellys' series gets laughs,. warming up his audience nicely for Smith and Dale, who follow, but in doing 21 minutes he's overboard. Sidney opens with a novel trailer of his trip from the Coast to New York, pieced together strictly for chuckles. Smith and Dale" found the comedy spout wide open as they came on, and, working rapidly, they struck a gusher. Open- with the Dr. Kronk- hlte stanza, topped off by the girl-; burglar bit that canie out of their firehouse sketch. Hitting the risi'- bllities hard, landing with their re- vised, act here stronger than they have done in the past on many oc- casions. Carrying a vocal team; S. and D. join them for a quartet number as a springboard to the. wings. Third tcomedy act in the sh.ow, Kramer and Boyle, were No. 3, )Vith Seller and Wills, dance . flash, be- tween them and Sidney., ICramer- Boyle have sprinkled their familiar routine with a few new ones that pay off. Seller and Wills, good dancing pair, work fast; The girl's acrobatic classlo drew the biggest palm p£ tho ' afteirnobn. up to that time. Man's seml-clrcular ski specialty ialso coht nected. Miss Patricola did 'v'ery nicely in No. 2, scprlng stoutly on her well- done 'Daughter of Lulu Belle.' This vet performer was in good selling form and did 13 minutes, about right. With the picture long .ind the va.ude taking up 79 minutes, the State this week is handing. out a threerhour 6how, Capacity Satur- day afternoon. Char. HIPPODROME, N. Y. Booking office goes long on blondes this wcelc, assembling a nice selection, but tosses in some brunettes for contrast. Not an out- standing example of a built up bill, but gets over " ■with better than usual results. ■ Opening is Dorothea and her Ycl- ; low Jackets in a medley of .steps and acrobatic work. Some of the' latter is particularly good, but the class tricks, are mixes in with the rest of the tumbling and not. ever for all It might get with >)etter showmanship. Girl does some dif- ficult Russian stuCf, .some if it was a contortion' slant, but for tricks the act is better than it looks. Four Musketeers deuce, getting over one noisy song about musket- eers then going to a nicely done straight number, a couple of pops and winding up with a vocal bridge game that packs a laugh at the fin- ish and lifts the act out of the rut. Al'. have good voices with a ba.ss- baritone outstanding. iRita Royce ana Co. offer a rou- tine of dancing spelled by a singer, Miss Tina, who torches "Human^ Thing- and does it all .o'V<er in jazz. Miss.Royce's comedy interpolations, brief and pointed, get the laupb.s. but In the first dance hurt what might have been made a good cos- tume number. Humor docs not match the dainty idea. She works with Sid and Al Rei.ss, who contrib- ute a neat soft shoe number. Hej chief solo contribution is announced as a tribute to Pavlowa, the swan dance done; before a stained /kI-iss ■(viridow and with crope over net head, Just a bit grisly, but sCon^ng ■orUec strongly here. Finish, also woi (Continued on page 30)